Vol Pontederian
Vol Pontederian was an elf of Riolythe. He was ranked rather low in his family and was kept to himself for the better part of his life, enrolled in rigorous private tutelage in the Vol estate. Most of his schooling was in arcane magic, making him a rather accomplished wizard considering his youth age. He liked art, particularly calligraphy, and spent most of his free time in childhood studying tattoo art despite being expressly forbidden from practicing any of the more permanent forms. His upbringing made him passive and he had little knowledge of what the world was like outside of his family's house. Due to this, in his youth he was often uncertain and nervous and needed firm direction from others. When he managed to feel confident, he was level-headed, kind-hearted, and possibly a little arrogant. A Dark Destiny Apparently the heads of his house, his aunts some generations removed, struck some sort of deal with Lord Miro. Vol was given knowledge of one of the magic circles and was locked in an upper storage room of the Vol embassy in order to complete it. Fearing that its completion would spell his death, Vol malingered and stalled, prompting the heads to resort to more tortuous means of hastening him along. It is unknown whether any other members of his family were aware of these events. Vol was rescued by the group in a rather fast and bloody effort. While it took him a while to get over the combined shock of escaping his imprisonment, watching his aunt die, fleeing his homeland and being introduced to the concept of eating meat in little over a 24-hour period, he started to adjust to his new life. In particular, he spent a lot of time with Raito, learning about Yeto and studying magic, as well as Caelan, who took a shine to him personally and taught him about horsemanship, animal care and living off the land. After the group acquired a clutch of drake eggs from the Seldarin Mountains, Vol began caring for them diligently. Following Raito's transformation, Vol was presented with the choice of sacrificing himself to the ritual he had been forced to begin, or to allow the sacrifice of another in his stead. He was given one night to think it over, after which point he decided that since he didn't want to die; if there were others who were willing to make the sacrifice, he would let them, but if any of the five who would need to complete the spell weren't fully willing, then he would take his own life. Caelan swore to find five other willing volunteers, which he did, including his elder half-brother and Ragoom. Freedom Vol remained with Yomiel and Ridley when the others went to their final face-off against Raito and the Blackblades; when news returned that Raito had been defeated, but that Caelan had died at Raito's hands. He wandered around Yeto with Ridley and Yomiel for a long time, resolving to live on his own worth and with his own hands. When eventually he parted ways, he took to living in the north of Miyagi, where he had found untouched forests on a rocky coast overlooking the ocean. It was a few days’ walk to the nearest small farming village, but otherwise, it was quiet and secluded. He loved it there, and the drakes did as well. Working at his own pace, Vol built a small house with his own hands, though he furnished it heavily with magical amenities. His drakes made nests in the forest and lived nearby, quite tame and personable with him, and Rayquaza in particular allowed him to ride on her back while she flew. When they were old enough, they wanted to have children; Maroar helped them with this at first, and later, when Vol began to worry about inbreeding, he returned to the mountains to find different males. Eventually, he had raised a respectable flock of drakes that spread out into the eastern forests, all raised and trained by him at least in part, making them reasonably amicable to whatever few people passed by. While he definitely preferred to be away from the muddle of society, he never lost his appreciation of civilization; he would walk to the farming village when the mood struck him, and occasionally teleported into the Yeto cities for a change of pace. Ridley and Broken Tusk visited from time to time, which he found pleasant, and he made a good many occasional friends and acquaintances throughout Yeto, even a few lady consorts, but he never really longed for any more permanent company. Though he lived in isolation, he never lived rustically: his magical talents ensured that he never wanted for comfort, even out in the wilderness. When he wasn’t out exploring or tending to the drakes, he studied magic, read a wide variety of books, and dabbled in art. Vol's ChildrenCategory:Character Over his years, Vol fathered 3 children. Though he wasn't particularly involved in their lives, allowing their other parents raise them, he still talked to them regularly and had pleasant, albeit distant, relationships with all of them Yukiko Deshimoto, with her pale orange hair and crystal blue eyes, was born after Vol visited a Yeto church one evening. While in the majority of cases, the children born to priestesses have unknown fathers, her pointed ears (and Ridley's pointed use of protection) meant that there really could be only one man responsible. The church looks well after those children born to it, and Yukiko was no exception: she eventually became a nun herself, and though she was never close to her father, she spoke to him regularly and never held anything against him for her place in life. Vol's second child was born to a couple in Yeto under odd circumstances. The man was sterile, but both partners wanted children; both also agreed that the elusive, blue-haired elf would make the single most beautiful, wonderful child in existence. They began to proposition him for his assistance in the matter. At first he was resistant, but eventually their insistance and desperation, and assurances that the child would be raised with nothing but the best, wore him down and he helped the pair concieve. The boy was named Taro Miura, a half-elf with dark green hair and eyes to match. Vol visited him semi-regularly, as his parents were always very open about his birth circumstances. Taro grew into a dutiful, only slightly spoiled man who followed in his human father's footsteps in ceramic crafting. The third child fathered by Vol was also a somewhat different circumstance. One day, while he was tending to the drakes, he met a young elf woman in the woods who called herself Astrid. She was originally from Riolythe, but after hearing wonderous things about the wider world from a certain silver-haired elf, she snuck out, became enamoured with nature and eventually found herself taking the druidic rites. Hearing through the druid infoways about a flock of drakes being established in the far east, she wanted to investigate herself. Vol and Astrid became good friends, and though she would never stay with him in civilization and he would never go with her into the deep wilderness, the two met frequently in Vol's secluded home. Eventually, their friendship became more intimate, though no more committed; she refused to allow him to use protection, as it went against nature's way, and if a child was concieved, she wanted to raise them away from the trappings of civilization in any case, and would want nothing more from Vol than before. He agreed to these somewhat-strange terms; eventually, they did concieve and a little girl, with hair as blue as her father's and eyes as blue as her mother's, was born. Named Piper, she was raised in the wilderness as a druid, visiting Vol whenever her mother dropped in to see him. Vol, for his part, showed her much about drakes, their habits, personalities, and how to raise, train and ride them, and when she was a little older, he trusted her with an egg to raise herself. When she struck out on her own with her drake partner, she continued to visit Vol to tell him about the things she had seen and done.